Read Proverbs 7
If we stay on course, we will get to the
proverb about bringing
up a child in the way he should go in early December, but Solomon has done
some prep work already.
First, let us consider the directions
at the beginning of this chapter.
Store up my commands.
Keep my commands. Not only know what to do but do it.
Store up my teaching as your prized
possession.
Bind them to your body.
Write them on your hearts.
Embrace wisdom as your sister.
Know that living by wisdom will keep you from
many traps.
Solomon then says, “Once upon a
time…” Those are not his exact words,
but he chose to teach using a literary tool that best resembles a fable.
Once upon a time, there was a young man
who had not been educated in the ways of God.
He was simple and had no compass as to how to make everyday decisions. He was ignorant of his God-given purpose, and
he was just minding his own business as he drifted through life and as it so
happened along the road that went by the crafty woman.
This woman had no doubt of her
intentions and they were not of God. She
had made her choices as to how she would live her life and she would claim all
of her victories and treasures in this world.
The young man that approached had the
look of a deer in the headlights. He had
nothing to steer him clear of the danger that lurked in perfume and fine
linen. It was a most excellent trap for
the naïve young man.
With persuasive words she led him
astray;
she seduced him with her smooth talk.
All at once he followed her
like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer stepping into a noose
till an arrow pierces his liver,
like a bird darting into a snare,
little knowing it will cost him his life.
As in a fable, this story which has
led to the destruction of a young man, has a moral.
What moral?
Listen to my commands. Embrace wisdom. Do not just drift through life as there are
many traps set especially for the naïve.
Here is your God-given map and
compass.
Here is the macro-moral. There is God’s way and there is everything
else. Learn God’s way early and stick to
it all of your life.
There is something of a corollary in
the beginning of chapter
6. Do you remember?
If you find yourself in a trap, your
first priority has become to get out of that trap. Better yet, don’t wander into a trap. But if
you find yourself there, chew off a leg if you have to and get out!
So, what’s in this for us?
I return once again to the most boring
of topics—front-end analysis. Victory in good
decisions comes on the front end of the process. God has already done the front-end
analysis. We don’t need to apply our own
understanding to verify his analysis. He
got it right.
How do we accept his analysis and
embrace God’s way over everything else?
The fear
of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge but fools despise wisdom and
instruction. Fools despise discipline.
If you revere God so highly that the
fear of anything in the world pales in comparison, you have begun a journey
that leads to knowledge that leads to wisdom that embraces the discipline and
instruction of the Lord.
How do we decide to embrace God’s
ways? It begins with the fear of the
Lord. We know that fear is not our
destination. Perfect
love casts out fear, but it is the beginning.
So, what is the lesson of this
lesson? Bring up your children in the
way they should go. Equip them to avoid
the traps set by the world and to escape sooner than later if they wander into
them.
What does it mean to work on the front
end of the process?
For ourselves, we store up God’s
commands and embrace his wisdom. We trust God and his ways over our own
understanding.
For our children, we bring them up in
the way they should go and we do it with passion and purpose knowing that there
are traps in this world, but we can prepare them to make good decisions.
Those good decisions come based in
trusting in the Lord and embracing his ways.
That means that our children don’t get
to decide their own gender. The one
assigned by God is just fine.
Our children don’t get to define right
and wrong. God has done that. That
doesn’t mean that there are not some hard lessons to be learned along the way.
We don’t leave our children to wander
through the world. We prepare them for
the world with God’s instruction.
We will give them room to live, but
not to wander aimlessly. We don’t kick them out the door with a good luck
and hope everything comes out ok.
They may make some bad choices, but
they won’t be out of ignorance of God’s ways.
We will always love and forgive and
embrace our children, but we do bring them up in the way they should go and
give them more than a fighting chance as they go into the world.
We teach them that the fear of the
Lord is their starting point for knowledge, wisdom, instruction, and
discipline.
Like Solomon, we charge our children
with these or similar words.
Keep my words.
Store up my commands.
Keep my commands. Not only know what to do but do it.
Store up my teaching as your prized
possession.
Bind them to your body.
Write them on your hearts.
Embrace wisdom as your sister.
Know that living by wisdom will keep
you from many traps.
We will talk more about this down the
road, but for now, consider that it is our job to teach our children God’s
ways.
The world does not hesitate to teach
its ways and it will teach your child its ways at some point.
Will he or she already know the truth
or will they be simple and vulnerable.
Our job is to help our children write
God’s commands on their hearts.
Amen.
